News

As the Iowa Annual Conference transitions from eight districts to five, the districts will be renamed to honor the legacy of the Iowa United Methodist and Evangelical United Brethren Camp and Retreat Centers. The discernment of the new district names began in March 2020, and a small task force was officially named by the Bishop in March 2021. The new district names will be in effect on July 1, 2021. Central District will become the Riverview Park District Northeast District will become the ...

Four Conversations on Local Church and Conference Finances were held via livestream the last two weekends. About 365 people tuned in total on Vimeo and Facebook Live and questions were answered after the presentation. As a follow up, a Q&A list has been created and the full presentation is available for download to share with your local churches. The team has also made available the apportionment witness statements from laity and clergy in the conference. If you have questions about these ...

The Reimagining the Conference Connectional Ministries Council (CCMC) Task Force team, formed by Bishop Laurie Haller in her Vision 2032 Address to position the Iowa Annual Conference CCMC for more effective ministry and outreach, continues its work and will report its final proposal to the Bishop’s Operational Team on April 1, 2021.   Because the Iowa Annual Conference’s operational budget has been shrinking for several years due to falling apportionment receipts from local churches, staff and ...

On January 23, 2021, the Circuit Transition Team hosted the third set of circuit development meetings for the leaders of the pilots.     The Purpose of Circuit Ministry is to develop a circuit of missionally effective clergy and laity leading together in partnership through:  Leadership Multiplication  Missional Accountability & Oversight  “We’re listening to our circuit pilots and making adjustments with our training as we go and getting positive feedback from those who originally expressed ...

All clergy and laypersons in the Iowa Conference are invited to Bishop Laurie’s Epiphany Address: Watching Over One Another in Love, Livestreamed on Monday evening, January 4, 2021, from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. The address will be recorded for future viewing.   The address is based upon the Gospel Lesson for the Epiphany of Jesus Christ, Matthew 2:1-12. She intends to offer both a word of hope for the New Year and share reports on the formation of Circuit Ministry, church finances, a process for ...

Over the past several years, we have been discerning a new future for The United Methodist Church in Iowa. In order to better address the adaptive challenges of the Iowa Annual Conference and our call to reach out to our communities with grace and hope, we have been developing a significant structural realignment of resources, both human and financial. Our goal is to be better equipped to lead, equip, and serve in a rapidly changing world.    Clergy and laity from across the Conference were ...

Bishop Laurie Haller has announced that Rev. Melissa Drake will become one of the Superintendents effective July 1, 2020.  She will serve the southwest region, which comprises the current Southwest District and some adjacent areas of the current Northwest District. Rev. Drake will follow Rev. Terra Amundson, who concludes her tenure on the Appointive Cabinet this year, having served most recently as the Dean of that group. She becomes lead pastor of the Mount Vernon United Methodist Church in ...

In response to a changing world, the Iowa Annual Conference is in the process of going through some major structural shifts right now. One of the biggest changes in the works is the adoption of a circuit model that is designed to bring clergy and lay leaders together for missional accountability and to provide a sense of connection between each other and with the conference.  If the idea of circuits sounds a bit old-fashioned to your ear, that’s because it’s a concept that was originally ...

The Vision 2032 conversations in January were well attended across the Conference. Many thanks to the host churches and pastors and for everyone’s engagement. Specific proposals based upon the conversations held last fall were presented during the January conversations. These proposal may become action items for this year’s Annual Conference Session that could significantly change our work and life together in Iowa as United Methodists. You are encouraged to read them and comment on them. You ...

"We encourage every local pastor, lay person and member to attend one of the conversations this weekend. What we are talking about will impact the church right now and in the very near future." After considering all suggestions from the first round of the Vision 2032 series last fall, the Bishop's Operational Team has proposed that a few changes be made to make the Iowa Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church a stronger conference beginning as early as this year. One of those changes ...

The last weekend of Vision 2032 Part II meetings are happening January 25-26 in five different districts. Please make time to attend one of the sessions as some of the proposals we heard from you during Part I will take effect as early as 2020-2021. We need your input moving forward to better shape the future of the Iowa Conference. Please note: The Conference Office will be sending two separate teams Saturday, January 25. Below are the team leads for each event. East Central District - 10:00 am...

You are invited to Vision 2032 II a follow-up conversation on what was heard during the Fall of 2019 at Vision 2032: All In Visioning Sessions with Bishop Laurie. It will begin with introductory remarks from Bishop Laurie and continue with ideas on plans for the Iowa Annual Conference to move forward in mission and ministry. Your participation is encouraged and you will be able to share in dialogue with those presenting. During the Fall of 2019, Vision 2032: All In gatherings were held ...

The Vision 2032 sessions wrapped up on Wednesday, November 20, 2019, at the Iowa UMC Conference Center with Bishop Laurie Haller, Rev. Dr. Harlan Gillespie and Rev. Dr. Heecheon Jeon presenting to the Central District. More than 400 people have attended the 16 visioning sessions that were held throughout the state.    The Vision 2032 sessions were broken up into three sections: Visioning, Context and Framing. In the Vision section, Bishop Laurie shared her hope for the United Methodist Church in...

The Central District Vision 2032 session will be livestreamed and you will be able to watch it online by going to the Iowa Conference of The United Methodist Church's homepage at https://vimeo.com/373937973. The livestream will begin at 6:30 p.m. and should wrap up around 8:00 p.m.  The session will be divided in to three parts: A presentation of Vision 2032 A presentation of the current context of the Iowa Conference A presentation framing the conversation There will be two times during...

Faith communities, lay and clergy, and leaders are looking into the future of the Iowa Annual Conference, to discern Vision 2032.    To be able to do this most effectively, with the greatest input from across the Conference, a series of listening sessions has just begun. The first conversation took place on Sunday, October 13, at Mt. Pleasant United Methodist Church. In the coming weeks, through the end of November, an additional seven sessions will take place. (See the schedule here.)   “The ...